Definitions for human sacrifice
hu·man sac·ri·fice

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. human sacrificenoun

   the killing of one or more human beings as part of religious ritual

2. Etymology: human + sacrifice

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Human sacrifice

   Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein a monarch's servants are killed in order for them to continue to serve their master in the next life. Closely related practices found in some tribal societies are cannibalism and headhunting.Human sacrifice was practiced in many human societies beginning in prehistoric times. By the Iron Age (1st millennium BCE), with the associated developments in religion (the Axial Age), human sacrifice was becoming less common throughout Africa, Europe, and Asia, and came to be looked down upon as barbaric during classical antiquity. In the Americas, however, human sacrifice continued to be practiced, by some, to varying degrees until the European colonization of the Americas. Today, human sacrifice has become extremely rare. Modern secular laws treat human sacrifices as tantamount to murder. Most major religions in the modern day condemn the practice. For example, the Hebrew Bible prohibits murder and human sacrifice to Moloch.

WikidataRate this definition:3.7 / 3 votes

1. Human sacrifice

   Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more human beings, usually as an offering to a deity, as part of a religious ritual. Its typology closely parallels the various practices of ritual slaughter of animals and of religious sacrifice in general. Human sacrifice has been practiced in various cultures throughout history. Victims were typically ritually killed in a manner that was supposed to please or appease gods, spirits or the deceased, for example as a propitiatory offering, or as a retainer sacrifice when the King's servants are killed in order for them to continue to serve their master in the next life. Closely related practices found in some tribal societies are cannibalism and headhunting. By the Iron Age, with the associated developments in religion, human sacrifice was becoming less common throughout the Old World, and came to be looked down upon as barbaric in pre-modern times. Blood libel is a false charge of ritual killing. In modern times, even the practice of animal sacrifice has virtually disappeared from all major religions, and human sacrifice has become extremely rare. Most religions condemn the practice, and present-day secular laws treat it as murder. In a society which condemns human sacrifice, the term ritual murder is used. In India, Sati, the immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre, continued well into the 19th century, but is now very rare.

How to pronounce human sacrifice?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say human sacrifice in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of human sacrifice in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of human sacrifice in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of human sacrifice in a Sentence

1. Emma Goldman:

   The State is the altar of political freedom and, like the religious altar, it is maintained for the purpose of human sacrifice.

2. David Michaels:

   What President Trump has done is said,' We solved the bottleneck, we're going to make you stay open,' it is a disaster for workers. We're making these workplaces, these meat packing plants into human sacrifice zones.

References

1. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Human_Sacrifice
2. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Sacrifice
3. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=human sacrifice